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Ritchie Clarke had built a growing business in Pets, Homes & Gardens, but by 2025, he was spending most of his time on work that had nothing to do with growing it. As Co-Owner and Franchise Director, the admin had quietly taken over: emails, scheduling, tasks that repeated themselves week after week. The strategic thinking he needed to do kept getting pushed aside.
In this case study, Ritchie and his co-owner, Amber, share how they found Virtalent, what it was like to bring VA Jo on board, and what changed as a result.
Recognising the Problem: Too Much Admin, Not Enough Strategy
When you are running a growing business, it is easy to stay busy without making real progress. The inbox fills up. Meetings get scheduled. Admin accumulates. And before long, the work that actually requires your thinking gets crowded out by the work that simply needs to get done.
For Ritchie, this became particularly acute in 2025.
“In 2025, it became apparent that I couldn’t look at higher-level strategic work, and I was very much getting drowned in lots of administrative work.”
– Ritchie Clarke, Co-Owner and Franchise Director, Pets, Homes & Gardens
The solution he was looking for was flexible support from someone who could take the admin off his plate without requiring constant direction. That search led him to Virtalent.
Finding Virtalent: What Stood Out During Onboarding
Getting started with a VA service can feel like a risk, particularly if you have never worked with one before. The concern is usually the same: how long will it take to brief someone in, and what happens if the match does not work?
The Virtalent model is designed to remove that friction. There are no job boards to navigate, no profiles to sift through. The team handles the matching process, pairing each client with a VA based on the specific skills and experience their work requires. For Ritchie, that meant being matched with Jo.
Working With VA Jo: Time Back, Headspace Restored
Skills are only part of what makes a VA arrangement work. The relationship matters too, and Ritchie is candid about this in the video. Jo did not feel like an external res
ource to be managed. She became part of how the business operated.
“I think VA almost isn’t the right word. It feels like she’s more of an extension of the Pets, Homes, and Gardens family.”
– Ritchie Clarke, Co-Owner and Franchise Director, Pets, Homes & Gardens
The effect went beyond Ritchie’s own workload. Amber Clarke, Co-Owner of the business, noticed the change too.
“Once Jo came on board with us, we saw a big change. Ritchie was able to take a
step back, be a bit more involved with the family as well as running the business.”
– Amber Clarke, Co-Owner, Pets, Homes & Gardens
For a business owner at the stage Ritchie was at, that kind of shift creates real momentum. When the person responsible for the strategic direction of the
business actually has time to think, plans get made and followed through.
What Business Owners Can Take From Ritchie’s Experience
Ritchie’s experience is recognisable to a lot of business owners. The specific details vary but the shape of the problem tends to be the same: a capable person who has built something real, spending their days on work that has nothing to do with what they are actually good at.
Working with the right VA does not transform a business overnight. But it can remove enough friction that the work that actually matters starts getting done. For Ritchie, that meant strategic thinking, stronger involvement with his family and a business that had room to grow.
The question is usually not whether support would help. It is what it takes to finally do something about it.
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Ready to Find Your Jo?
By 2025, Ritchie Clarke was doing everything in his business apart from the work he was there to do. Since bringing Jo on board, that has changed. The admin gets handled. The strategic thinking gets done. And the business has space to move forward.
If that sounds familiar, a conversation with the Virtalent team is a good place to start.
